Hip Hop Inspired Architecture: Michael Ford

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Michael Ford’s talk on Hip Hop Inspired Architecture focuses on three interconnected realms – education, practice and media to expose the subconscious roles of celebrated modernist architects and urban planners in the creation of the environments which necessitated hip hop’s birth. The multi-media lecture will include a live DJ who extracts samples of rap lyrics as dialogue, commentary and counterpoints to popular architectural history and theory. The juxtaposition establishes golden era Hip Hop lyrics as a post occupancy evaluation of modern architecture.

Ford will provide examples of his pursuit to create a Hip Hop-inspired architecture through multiple efforts including working with pioneering Hip Hop artist Kurtis Blow to design and program The Universal Hip Hop Museum in The Bronx. He will also discuss his international initiative, The Hip Hop Architecture Camp, a one-week intensive that uses Hip Hop culture as a catalyst to introduce underrepresented youth to architecture and urban planning. Currently, less than 2% of all architects in The US are African American. Looking to change that, Ford details how Hip Hop can increase diversity in architecture. Focusing on the intersection of theory and practice, youth explore Hip Hop as a revolutionary approach to understanding, conceiving, and generating architecture for a just city.

About Michael FordMichael Ford, also known as The Hip Hop Architect, is dedicated to stimulating cross disciplinary discourse between architectural practitioners, residents on the cultural implications of architecture on its inhabitants through lectures, workshops and exhibits. Ford’s Hip Hop Architecture research has been published in a variety of places including Fast Company, ESPN, Vibe Magazine, and NBC’s The TODAY Show. Michael Ford was invited to keynote The 2018 Toronto Interior Design Show, The 2017 American Institute of Architects National Conference on Architecture, The 2016 South by Southwest Eco Conference and to give a TEDX on Hip Hop Architecture. Through his years of research, publications, and lectures, Michael Ford is recognized in the architectural and Hip Hop communities as a galvanizer and pioneer of a new era of architectural practitioners.

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